Books

These resources may prove useful in organizing or facilitating discussions regarding Christian faith and science. Most of the web links connect to other sites. Inclusion of any items in this resource list does not constitute endorsement by either the Lutheran Alliance for Faith, Science, and Technology, or the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).

The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Science, edited by Philip Clayton. This book is a series of academic papers that cover a variety of sciences and topics. There is an article from major faith perspectives. Other papers cover specific topics within each scientific discipline and how it relates to God and faith.

The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief, by Francis S. Collins. Collins describes his journey to faith as a scientist in the beginning chapters of the book. In the second part of the book, he reviews the various ways science and faith can interact. He discusses atheism, creationism and intelligent design. At the end, Frances Collins discusses his view that God creates through the evolutionary processes.

God’s Universe, by Owen Gingerich. Gingerich is Professor of Astronomy and of the History of Science Emeritus, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. This short book, the collection of the 2005 William Beldon Noble Lectures at Harvard is a highly accessible introduction to some of the important issues of faith and science.

The Territories of Science and Religion, by Peter Harrison. An historian of science presents a revised and extended version of his 2011 Gifford Lectures. He argues that the concepts of “science” and “religion” are relatively recent, and conflict metaphors do not adequately describe the historical interaction.

Bodies and Souls, or Spirited Bodies?, by Nancey Murphey. A theologian and philosopher examines the arguments for and against humans as material bodies with nonmaterial souls. She argues on theological and neuroscientific grounds that humans are more than the sum of our parts, and an emergent physicalist approach is best.

The Cosmos in the Light of the Cross, by George L. Murphy. This theologian/physicist uses the Theology of the Cross as the perspective by which to best understand the apparent absence of God from natural processes, the role of death in evolution, and much more.